Socket C refers to writing socket code in C and the library file containing socket functions. Socket C involves creating an interface to send/receive information over a network or hardware. Three types of sockets are datagram, stream, and raw access. Sockets are commonly used for internet communication but can be difficult to locate a library file that supports all systems.
“Socket C” is a term that is sometimes used to refer to the process of writing socket code in the C programming language, and is sometimes used to refer to the actual library file that contains the implementation for some socket function. The actual C socket library file contains implementations for several functions and macros that provide the basic socket functionality provided by the language’s libraries, although the C socket file is operating system dependent and may not be implemented on some systems. Writing socket C code involves creating an interface to a standard input and output protocol, known as a socket, and using it to send or receive information, usually over a network or through a piece of hardware. The C programming language is meant to be portable, but socket programming relies on some low-level system-specific functions, so it can sometimes be difficult to write C programs that use sockets but also maintain portability between systems.
There are three basic types of sockets supported by socket C. The first is known as a datagram, the second is a stream, and the third is raw access. A datagram is a type of socket that sends information in small packets known as packets. Each packet is sent from a source with information about the destination socket it is looking for in a network. While a datagram can be an efficient method of socket communication and is often used to send email, it is also lossy, because no packet sent is guaranteed to arrive at the destination socket.
A stream socket makes a connection to another socket and information is passed directly between the sockets. When used in socket C programming, this type of socket ensures that any data sent is received by the other end. One complication, however, is that the socket can sometimes use locking, which means that the socket will stop executing a process until either the information is received or the socket is closed, although using forked threads or processes can solve this problem in most cases. Raw socket access is provided as a means to actually interface at a near-hardware level with any device hosting the socket.
Sockets are commonly used in various forms for Internet communications. The hardware and drivers that enable networking vary greatly by operating system, so it can be difficult to locate a socket C library file that supports all possible combinations. For this reason, the C socket file itself, as well as the socket header file, often contains a long list of conditional compilation directives, so it will compile differently on various systems.
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